Teachers’ Courses On Massive Scale

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30724, 13 April 1965, Page 11

Teachers’ Courses On Massive Scale

A massive programme of in-service training for teachers under the Canterbury Education Board is in progress this year and next term alone there will be 31 courses (13 of them in the evenings or on Saturdays) in six districts covering all Canterbury and Westland. Hundreds of teachers will be brought up-to-date on latest developments.

Courses are being held in reading, arithemetic, science, physical education, arts and craft and music. Next term there will be four in Christchurch, four in the Lees ton area, two on Banks peninsula, nine in South Canterbury, seven in North Canterbury, and five on the West Coast. These will range from one day to four weeks. For short courses teachers will be released from their schools or attend out of school hours. For the three and four-week courses chosen teachers will be replaced in their schools by relievers so that they can devote full-time to refresher training and also go out and "spread the gospel” among other area schools. The character of in-service training has changed considerably in the last year. Previously teams of itinerant specialists travelled round schools assisting individual teachers. Their work had to be spread “pretty thinly,” said the district senior inspector (Mr H. W. Findlay). “Now,” said Mr Findlay, “these special positions have

been up-graded in status to ‘adviser.’ The numbers of specialists have been reduced, but the depth and scope of their work has been increased. There are now more than 20 of them in this district working on music, .reading, infant services, physical education, arts and craft, and science.”

To prevent over-lapping of teachers chosen and to prevent undue disruption of staff from any one school, a coordinating committee representing the inspectorate, staffing officers, senior advisers, Headmasters’ Association, and New Zealand Educational Institute (teachers) had been set up.

In-service training will alter again in 1967 when Rochester Hall (the Roman Catholic men’s university hostel in Bealey avenue, recently bought by the Education Department), becomes the South Island centre for this activity like Frank Lopdell House in Auckland. Then teachers at all levels of education will livein for concentrated instruction but local courses will probably continue.